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Joined 10 months ago
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Cake day: September 28th, 2023

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  • I agree, it shouldn’t be used as a way to slam someone. Point it out if you’re in the middle of a useful response. I would consider this a form of error detection / error correction feedback, because maybe the original poster genuinely doesn’t know. Speaking for myself, I would wonder what the speaker hears in their head when they’re presented with both spellings.

    But if we’re playing fast and loose with the rules, then we should also accept ‘luce’ as another alternative. The point here being, how far can we take it before everyone agrees that it’s no longer a reasonable alternative?

    I’ve long considered that learning a second language is like learning to play music. So yeah, there’s the precision of classical, versus the freestyle of jazz.

    But if you’re playing some vinyl on a turntable and asking others to listen to it while jumping around on the floor next to it, don’t be surprised if people seem distracted when the needle starts to jump around. Was that a glitch, or was it intentional?

    Tangent time: around 25 years ago I was reading up on DNS (and BIND) and came across something that stuck with me. I might be paraphrasing, but it went something like “be strict in what you send, and flexible in what you accept”. The context had to do with acceptable DNS names being passed around, and a methodology to improve the odds of mutual success.

    Shifting back to being more on topic: I wish I could speak and write at a level far better than I can now. When I hear certain speakers (typically from England) I simultaneously have a great appreciation for their language competence and a regret for my own competence. I do try to be better, although I do fail.

    In the end, I’d like to be able to bring others along when I lift myself up.




















  • You’re older than I am, but not by a lot.

    My guidance counsellor moment was probably around 1975-76. I was deep into comp sci; a friend would tell me years later that the teacher knew less than at least a couple of us. I would ask him a question, he would say he’d look into it. Unbeknownst to me, he wandered over to the other advanced student (Phil) and put my question to him. Phil would reply, teacher would make his way back to me and share the knowledge. The same thing would happen if Phil had a question; teacher would come to me for the answer.

    My friend watched this whole thing with amusement.

    Now for the GC moment. Career counselling.

    I went to the GC’s office full of electric enthusiasm, hoping to learn of the great CS things that awaited me after uni. I told him about my love and fascination with computers. He had the reaction, the kind a parent has when they need to tell their child their favourite pet has died. He told me that it might be fun and make for an interesting hobby, but that there were no computer-related careers. And that I should consider another vocation. I was crushed.

    I even spent some years in university studying things that were unrelated to CS. My career didn’t get any traction until about 10 years after HS, unsurprisingly in the field I was most passionate about.

    Anyway, I’ve been a computer professional for about 35 years now.